StarDict – A basic language-to-language dictionary.
Azureus – Torrent Download Manager.
VLC – Brilliant media player.
Gparted – Partition Editor.
InkScape – For Vector Illustration.
GIMP – For all other drawing purposes.
AbiWord – Simple Word Processing.
OpenOffice Word – For that extra word processing mile.
Fluxbox – Perfect Window Manager for the eee.
ZSNES – SNES Emulator.
Miro – Watch internet TV and videos from RSS-feeds.
Pidgin – Instant Messaging.
xchat – IRC.
09
Mar
08
sudo apt-get install
09
Mar
08
In A Safe Place
The last track of the “In a Safe Place” Compact-Disk by The Album Leaf (produced by the living Icelandic legends Sigur Ros) is split into two parts. The first one is, as are the other tracks on the album, a rather pleasant electronic music with a soft vocal, invoking summer stream side memories, and the second part is almost the same… Except it´s somehow softer, and furthermore it is recorded on a lesser volume than the first part. This means you will have to turn your speakers all the way up in order to hear the second part, and when it´s over and the CD reverts to the first track, the sudden burst of volume of before soothing electronic beats suddenly seems vulgar, in comparison with the simplicity and quietness of the second part of the last track.
This transition where a familiar song, the first track, is changed when seen through something else, the last track, describes the eee better than all previous attempts. My old iBook G4 with it´s 12 inches suddenly seems vulgar, when compared to tiny Lolita, whom I had momentarily forgot was resting peacefully in my shoulder-bag.
(written late last night under the influence)
07
Mar
08
My EEE Installation Procedure
1. Fondly fondle your new piece of gear.
2. Decide Xandros is too simple for your tastes.
3. Install 2GB RAM like so.
4. Download and Install the customized eee Xubuntu from here.
5. Continue here with the eee customization.
5.5. Don’t forget to update before you start tweaking too seriously.
6. And you’re done for now.
Updates to come.
I’m home and I’m ecstatic. It’s so tiny you wouldn’t believe it.
Unboxing has been done to death (mostly by people who looked half-dead themselves), so here is something else:
1. Pearl-White Asus EEE 701 4GB
2. Nintendo Wii
3. Nintendo Wiimote
4. Peter Jensen Shoes
5. Original Black PSP
6. DVD Case (‘The Mirror’)
7. Penguin Classic (‘Lolita’)
8. Panama Hat
9. iPod 160GB Classic Silver
10. Edgar Allan Poe Action Figure
11. Oral-B Electric Toothbrush
12. Old Yellow Typewriter
13. CD Case (‘OK Computer’)
14. iBook G4 12″
15. Large Linux Penguin Plushie
16. A Bottle of Jolt Cola
17. Perfume
18. Gameboy Micro
19. Didgeridoo
20. A Piece of Standard Fruit
21. Hacker Deluxe Edition: An SJ Game
22. WD External HDD
I am playing with Xandros Linux right now, but will install Ubuntu later today. So keep a look out for more updates.
07
Mar
08
Great Expectations
The DHL tracking system has just informed me that a packet containing my eee has arrived safely. After waiting for little more than four weeks, I am sure you can, probably being an eee-enthusiast yourself, imagine my joy at this moment. However, my joy is not as pure as one might expect, for I suddenly find it tainted with dread. So it is, I believe, with almost all scenarios of lengthy anticipation. First the generational techno-lust, then the logistics of buying such a sought-after item, then the economical strain on my bank-account and hereafter the weeks and weeks of mental pursuit and the elevation of the item in question to an almost metaphysical state. Now, on the verge of fulfillment, the chase is almost at an end: All I have to do is race home and tear to tiny pieces the packaging of my desires. One could almost compare this chase-fulfillment scenario to being in love, not that I am, of course, in love with my computer, but even so lusting after a consumer object the way we do it today could, perhaps, be compared to the disappointment or the less-frequent enjoyment of lovers everywhere. Say you are in pursuit of a specific woman or a man, and should be so lucky as to achieve your primal moment of ecstasy and together experience le petite morte, this then is the fulfillment, the second where you either fall in love or wake from dreams of mere desire — or, if you will further allow me this far-fetched metaphor, boot up Xandros Linux with a smile or a frown.
One might argue that techno-lust is an artificial invention of capitalism, which instills in the people of western society the constant desire for the latest mass-produced consumer-products, in order to keep producing and expand the global economy, but one might also argue that love, in a way, is no different. The latter statement might be viewed as pessimistic, but nonetheless we could easily argue that ’love’ is but branded lust mixed with whatever is socially acceptable in the decade discussed. One might argue in turn that love is dependent on another individual, and therefore is completely unrelated to my techno-lust, but that too can almost be deferred if we are merely discussing previously mentioned chase-fulfillment scenario. Besides, while my future experience of my eee will most certainly be an individual one, a one-way-street, one could argue that no other individual could ever know the thoughts of another, and that when in love we are merely pushing primordial sensuous buttons.
Whatever else may and should be said on the subject; we experience, elaborate and elevate these emotions of desire. And so I find myself in a library building on the fifth floor, torn between the irrational, the lustful race home or the rational continuation of my studies.
From writing down my musings on the matter, I have attempted to distance myself from my sudden dread of fulfillment, and had almost succeeded when I labeled desire, and in extension the dread, irrational. The trouble is, what now remains is but the naked fulfillment of my lengthy anticipation. So when I made the error of discussing it in relation to the rational, my studies, I foolishly inserted the element of temptation, and, as Oscar Wilde writes in “Lady Windermere’s Fan”, I can resist anything but temptation.
Clove UK finally seems to have shipped my order. My eee is currently in the hands of DHL in Southampton, which still, I must admit, seems quite far away.
In preparation for arrival, I have downloaded two interesting Linux Distributions: Backtrack 3 (beta) and a customized version of xubuntu. It is my plan to install xubuntu to the SSD, and then to run BT3 whenever the urge takes me from a USB pendrive.
My other purchases include a 4GB USB Pendrive (for the BT3 Live USB Disk, but first for the SSD Installation of xubuntu), 2GB RAM (Because you can never have enough RAM when you plan to run a distro live. Incidentally, it might interest my imaginary readers to know that when purchasing RAM for your eee, you are looking for these specifications: SODIMM, DDR2, 667mhz.), 8GB SDHC and a USB Joystick Controller. The latter sticks out like a sore thumb and demands explanation, but I’d prefer to wait until I’ve tested it out.
My eee being British, oi mate, it won’t have the keyboard I’m used to. So I picked up some cheap Danish Keyboard Character Stickers on eBay in two different colours, and I am really dreading the application of these sticky bastards to my shiny white keyboard. However, it should definitely be worth it in the end. Below you’ll find images of the stickers applied to two random keyboards:
My Asus snow-white eee has yet to be delivered to me in reality, but a few minutes ago it was delivered in a dream, and embedded in the dream was written its future name.
prinneh@Lolita: Light on my knees, cold to my touch. My sin, my soul. Lo-lee-ta: the tip of the tongue taking a trip of three steps down the palette to tap, at three, on the teeth. Lo. Leee. Ta.
It is Lo, plain Lo, in the morning, displaying seven inches in two pounds. It is Lola in unbuntu. It is Dolly at lectures. It was Doloreees 4gb White on the dotted digital line. But in my arms it was always Lolita.
Did it have a precursor? It did, indeed it did. In point of fact, I might have brought no Lolita at all had I not loved, one summer, a certain initial subnotebook. In a kingdom by the sea. Oh when? About as many months before Lolita was manufactured as my e-penis was in length that summer. You can always count on a blogger for a fancy prose style.
(Ladies and gentle)men of the internet, exhibit #1 is what my classmates, the technologically crippled, but noble-minded classmates, envied. Behold this lack of thorns:
Announcing the Asus EEE 900 seems like a slap in the face to everyone, including yours truly, who is still eagerly awaiting the Asus EEE 701.
At first I was slightly disappointed, because I have already ordered my eee 701. Of course, I had the choice of canceling my 701 order, but I’ve just been waiting for so long… I therefore sat down and read all the information about this new release in it’s entirety(1), and you know what, I no longer ‘really’ care about the eee 900. Yes, the screen is bigger, but so is the computer and the price. 12GB SSD Option as-well, but does that really matter? I mean, sure, it’s a nice feature, but will it really make a difference to your overall everyday use of the eee? No, it won’t. You’ve already got your 8gb/16gb SDHC.
There’s a camera upgrade, which you’ll probably only need if you went into debt purchasing the 701, and need to prostitute yourself over the internet to afford the 900. Besides, any gadgetfile worth his salt owns a decent digital camera. And let’s not even bother to mention the probable lower battery-time, shall we? But what’s with the choice of OS? If you stick with your 701, you’ll be able to say: “Yeah, I got one before Asus sold out(2)” – You would be the hipster of subnotebooks!
All in all, I wouldn’t be surprised if the 900 ships with World of Warcraft preloaded. What else would you use your 8gb-extra, windows-running and bigger-displaying chunky 900 for?
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(1) eeeuser.com 901 thread – I recommend the French blogee link.
(2) Pun intended
